Board presses Guam EPA on enforcement and permitting capacity; DOD pilot for design review raises conflict concerns

Board members pressed Guam EPA staff March 20 for details on enforcement activity, inspector staffing and how complaints are handled, saying the public perception is that the agency is often tolerated rather than enforced. "I feel like for a lot of people, EPA Guam EPA is something they have to tolerate, instead of something they need to inspect," Director Hoss said during the meeting.

Acting Deputy Glenn Cinecas walked the board through the agency’s enforcement workflow: complaints are logged and referred to the appropriate program, a field inspection is conducted, and inspectors issue a notice of violation or a notice of violation and order of compliance as needed. "If, after the compliance period, there's no action, then we proceed with the notice of violation order of compliance, which then puts them on the card," Cinecas…